Friday, December 31, 2010

Sunday, December 26, 2010

After messing around with fiddely uniforms and referencing colours for days, It's nice to be able to sit back and make a load of stuff up. I'm going to try and paint and dip a whole load of Celts in my time off over christmas. Using the Army Painter method I'm sure it can be done. Those Romans had better watch their flanks that's all I can say.

I treated myself to a new camera for Christmas after seeing it as deal of the week on Amazon. It's basically a newer version of the one I had already which was starting to die slightly, so when I saw it I jumped at the it. I always go to Amazon first now when looking for anything like this, I find their prices unbeatable. Some shots of French Generals again as I try out the new Camera, well they look so much more colourful than the drab WWII lot who could blame me. It was all about being seen In those days...how things would change with the improvement of weaponry..

Good old Military History channel! As my eyes are down painting most of the time I tend to listen more than watch, however the stuff I miss I tend to catch as they repeat the programs on a three hour cycle. If you're really lucky...you might even catch a Roman day!

Here are some extra Tommies painted in record time using good old dry brushing and Ink washes. It's now that the little black book with all It's colour notes really comes into It's own. Once you know the colours used before for the rest of the Platoon, you can dry brush your way through hordes of re-enforcements. Although I took my time on the others, it is impossible to tell them apart from the new guys. Lesson learnt!

After reading lots of figure painting books about shading and layering techniques It can be quite hard to relax and speed up, I think Army Painter has shown me the light in many ways and brought a lot of joy back to painting. I'm planning on speed painting a load of Celtic Cavalry over the Xmas break with the dip method, I find it really rewarding and fun.These images are taken with my new camera, which has a great manual focus and more mega pixels...joy! Mind you there is no rushing insignia and uniform details.

After using the die cast Corgi tanks for the ROE game I was interested to know exactly what the size gap is between 1.60 (corgi) and 28mm (1.56), well here is the deference. Not that bad and to be honest the figures work well with the larger scale. At any rate the Corgi's do make excellent battlefield scenery and debris. I gave the Corgi Churchill tank a wash of black Ink to bring out the detail. If I decide to use it as a gaming piece I will work into it more.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

I have to say I really enjoyed this game for many reasons. We have been meaning to test the game for a long while and I have been painting up miniatures for it, off and on, for a good few years now. I found the rules quite straight forward and It's safe to say they have been influenced by Warhammer 40K a fair bit.One tip that we both came to learn was to put down as much firepower as possible on enemy units, the more hits the better, as this affects morale. Also Mortars proved to be very effective with their blast radius. Snipers, with their ability to pin down an entire Section of men proved very useful as well, as can be seen in the game. We set up on a Sunday and played for a full day, then had an hour on Wednesday evening, then carried on the following Sunday, all day.

I know I must have enjoyed it because I have been busy painting up more options for the British, in the form of PIAT and Sniper teams. This has helped me get my painting head back on which is a really good thing!

As the British tank crawls it's way over the smashed wall it takes two Anti tank rockets into it's side. The first fills the tank with thick black smoke and two crewmen jump out and run for cover. The second shot causes the tank to lose control and it swerves right and ploughs into a German vehicle and stops. Grenades soon finish of the tank and what's left of the crew. Lt Proctor has no choice now but to fall back. The British retreat and leave the Germans to occupy the farm and surrounding countryside. Lt Proctor goes off to find the crewman of the 3 Inch mortar to have a little chat...

The newly arrived German sections now advance up the hedgerows undercover, however, the remnants of the Recon Section are cut down by a Vickers Machine gun team who have just arrived and have set up a position at the end of the road. Lt Proctor is still pinned down by Sniper fire and can only guess where his tank has gone.

Badly mauled and beat up, the number 2 British Section rallies and returns to the fight. They have been recovering in a small wood just north of the farm. As they advance back towards the action they are spotted and as they pass their fallen comrades at the M3 half track, they take another direct hit from the mortar. The Section is all but wiped out and they are over as a fighting force.

As part of the British Infantry hit the dirt to avoid the deadly sniper fire, the British command section follows up the tank only to be cut to pieces by Ludeman and his waiting MP40's. Ludeman's decision to split his tiny command group and occupy the farm house has paid off. Now all British Sections have been stopped in their tracks and their advance begins to falter.All this time the Germans have been getting a steady stream of re-enforcements. One of the squads newly arrived is an Anti tank squad. They quickly assess the situation and set up position.

As the British Infantry rushes forward they come under a deadly fire from a German sniper. As two men fall dead the whole Section dives for cover, pinned down. The tank is on it's own. After seeing their quarry bolt and run, the tank crew shift the tank into gear and take off it pursuit. They smash through the courtyard of the farm and head straight for the opposite wall. At the same time the Command and 1st rifle sections spring up and advance in support of the tank.

The big 3 Inch support mortar falls short but Private Phillips in the Command Section, with his 2 Inch Mortar hits time after time. The German sections scatter under Phillip's deadly aim. Their advance is checked.On seeing the tank pull up into a firing position on their hedgerow, the German number 1 section falls back.The British mortar lays down supporting fire on the advancing Germans, but It's aim is off and the shells fall short.

The 2nd German Section moves up through the undergrowth and links up with the Recon Section, together they advance using the Hedgerows as cover. Lt Proctor knows the Germans are out there, he just doesn't know where. All he does know though is his right flank has fallen back under intense fire from just beyond the farm. He orders the Cromwell to take up position and shell the area.

The British advance up to the farm, the arrival of the tank is very timely and explosive shells start to rain down on the Germans.The number 2 rifle Section falls back and regroups under the hard cover of the M3 half track. They soon recover and ready themselves to move up in support of the tank.

Lt Ludeman leads a small three man party into the deserted farm house while his weapons team gives him covering fire. Once set up in here he should be able to get a cross fire on any unwary Tommy whole tries to advance.

The tank commander shouts to the near by rifle sections and gets a quick low down of the situation. On hearing of the near by German positions he orders his gunner to open up on the knocked out Panther tank to his front. The high explosive shell hits the tanks and shatters the recon squad taking cover behind it. At last Lt Proctor sighs, something has finally gone his way for once.As the sound of the British medium tank gets nearer all the Germans can do is stay low and keep out of sight. AT grenades are passed around the squad and the Panzerfaust is prepared.